Our group had a prominent role in the First Scientific Meeting “Passion for Science”, held at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This event gathered over 110 attendees and featured more than 50 scientific presentations, including oral and poster sessions, becoming a key forum for researchers from various fields.

Learn more about the event here.

Our participation was highly active: Lourdes was part of the Scientific Committee, contributing significantly to the organization and scientific success of the event. Nico, Pablo, and Isabel delivered oral presentations, showcasing the quality and relevance of their work. Gema, Asier, Juncal, Sara, Sukayna and Jesús presented their research in the form of posters, highlighting the diversity and depth of our research lines.

As a special achievement, Asier won the Best Poster Award of the congress, a recognition that underscores the excellence of the work conducted by the Microfluidics Cluster. Congratulations, Asier!

We are proud to have contributed to the success of this first edition of “Passion for Science” and to have shared our research with the scientific community. We are already looking forward to participating in the next edition next year!

A big thank you to the organizing committee and all participants for making this event a scientific milestone!

Congratulations to all our Master’s students!

The graduation ceremony was a wonderful way to celebrate the completion of your studies with us. Wishing you all the best as you embark on the next exciting steps in your careers!

What an amazing success: 5 posters, 1 oral presentation and a workshop carried out by the Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU at microTAs conference in Montreal.

The contributions are:

Investigating T Cell Activation and Cytokine Secretion Using a Novel Cell Monitoring Platform. N. Lartitegui-Meneses, E. Azuaje-Hualde, A. Merino, A. Colom, J. Saez,  F. Benito-Lopez, L. Basabe-Desmonts, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (POSTER) M198.j.

A Microfluidic Passive Device for Plasma Enriched in Platelets Separation from Whole Blood Made of Acrylic and Tape. P. E. Guevara-Pantoja, Y. Alvarez-Braña, J. Mercader-Ruiz, F. Benito-Lopez, L. Basabe-Desmonts, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (ORAL) Monday, session 1C1.

Autonomous Microfluidic Device for the Naked-Eye Detection of Benzodiazepines in Adulterated Beverages. I. Poves-Ruiz, E. Azuaje-Hualde, I. Corchado-Gonzalez, L. Basabe-Desmonts, F. Benito-Lopez, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (POSTER) W202.j.

A Paper-Based Microfluidic Detection and Quantification of MicroRNA-408 as an Indicator of Stress Responses in Crops. F. Nicolas Nazar, S. Pellegrini, E. Azuaje-Hualde, X. Arciniega, P. E. Guevara-Pantoja, L. Basabe-Desmonts, F. Benito Lopez, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (POSTER) W042.c.

A Reusable Microfluidic Sensor Device for the Colorimetric Detection of Ammonia Exudates in Building Materials, E. García-Rodriguez, I. Costantini, K. Castro, L. Basabe-Desmonts, F. Benito-Lopez, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (POSTER) W121.g.

Including a collaboration poster presentation with Trinity Collage Dublin:

Direct Laser Writing of Liquid Crystalline Cellulose Photonic Actuators Responsive Microfluidics with a Splash of Colour. A. Donohoe, J. Qian, R. Catalan, E. Azuaje Hualde, L. Bradley, L. Basabe-Desmonts, F. Benito-Lopez, L. Florea, C. Delaney, 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, Micro Total Analysis Systems, μ-TAS-2024, Montreal, Canada, 13-17 October, 2024, (POSTER) T518.f.

The conference was an inspiring scientific event filled with engaging presentations and discussions, making it a rewarding experience. The well-organized social activities added a wonderful touch, making our stay in Montreal both enjoyable and memorable.

Lourdes and Fernando gave on of the Workshops at MicroTAS 2024 in Montreal, Canada.

The workshop 10 entitled: REVOLUTIONIZING MICROFLUIDICS: THE POWER OF SMART MATERIALS AND ADAPTIVE SURFACES was a great success with 35 attendants.

It was a fantastic opportunity to share our interest in smart materials and surfaces for developing innovative microfluidic devices with the MicroTAS community.

On Thursday 26th September, a team from the Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU (Lourdes Basabe, Nicolas Nazar and Fernando Benito) met with members of Tekniker to discuss the development of collaborations in the context of coating and functionalization of surfaces.

It was a day of very productive meetings and discussions, with visits to the amazing facilities of Tekniker. We envision very fruitful collaborations to come.

The 20th of September 2024, Prof. Swaminathan Rajaraman, from the Materials Science & Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences and the Nanoscience Technology Center at University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA gave a wonderful seminar entitled: Acceleration of Biomedical Research with Micro/Nanoengineered Interfaces and Systems.

Abstract: The natural applicability of micro and nano-scale technologies in life sciences, agriculture and associated areas opens new avenues for powerful interdisciplinary collaborations between scientists, engineers, and medical professionals.

My research group works on the development of new micro/nanofabrication technologies and embedded biosystems technologies to address applications in several areas including: (1) Planar, 3D and High-Throughput Microelectrode Arrays (MEAs); (2) Plasmonic, micro- and nanoscale Interdigitated Electrodes (IDEs); (3) Microneedles for not only drug delivery into model plant and animal systems but also for functional monitoring; (4) Microfluidic devices to support Point-of-Use diagnostic systems and pico-scale mass sensing systems; (5) Embedded biosystems technologies for data manipulation from wearable and implantable sensors.

This talk will introduce established and ongoing efforts in Dr. Rajaraman’s lab in the space of these micro/nanoengineered areas that can help accelerate various types of biomedical research.

Bio: Swaminathan Rajaraman received his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) respectively. Prof. Rajaraman is a tenured Professor and a successful entrepreneur. He is currently Associate Professor in the NanoScience Technology Center (NSTC) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Central Florida (Orlando, Florida, USA) with additional appointments in Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Sciences. Prior to his academic appointment, he has worked in the MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) industry with Analog Devices (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) and CardioMEMS (now Abbott Labs, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) and co-founded Axion BioSystems Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), a world-leader in high-throughput Microelectrode Arrays (MEAs) and MEA systems during and after his Ph.D. work. Axion was successfully acquired by the Swedish Private Equity Firm, Summa Equity in 2021. Axion spun out BioCircuit Technologies (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) in 2019 whose product NerveTape® is FDA-approved for sutureless nerve repair. Prof. Rajaraman has also co-founded Primordia BioSystems (Costa Mesa, California, USA) and serves on the Advisory Board of World Precision Instruments (Sarasota, Florida, USA).

His current research interests include in vitro and in vivo Microelectrode Arrays (MEAs), hybrid micro/nanofabrication, micro/nanofabrication on novel, biological substrates, microneedles, agricultural microsystems, microfluidic devices, multimodal cell-based nanosensors, 3D printing, embedded biosystems, and implantable MEMS devices. He also serves as the Deputy Director of the NSF I/UCRC, MIST Center at UCF. He has published more than 95 articles in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, holds close to 35 patents/applications, developed several MEA products that are in volume production and has mentored close to 65 graduate students, undergraduate students, engineers, and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Rajaraman has served/serves on the Technical Program Committee (TPC) of IEEE Sensors, Hilton Head MEMS Workshop, IEEE Transducers, and IEEE MEMS. He was the Program Chair for Hilton Head MEMS Workshop in 2024 and is the General Chair for the Hilton Head MEMS Workshop in 2026. He additionally serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE JMEMS.

On the 16th and 17th of September, our Forensic Analysis Master's students successfully defended their theses at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country.

It was a remarkable event where all four students presented the work they conducted in our laboratories over the past five months. Each received an excellent grade, reflecting the high quality of both their thesis manuscripts and presentations.

We are incredibly proud of you all! Wishing you the very best for the future.

THESIS TITLES:

Laura Lartitegui-Elorza "Development of a microfluidic device for naked-eye detection of scopolamine in adulterated beverages"

Jesús Ibarra Gómez "Development of a paper integrated microfluidic device for the visual detection of cortisol"

Sara López de Lacalle Arregui "Investigating T Cell activation through IFN-γ secretion using a novel cell monitoring platform"

Alexia Ramos Gutiérrez "Copatterning of biomaterial microstructures and cells by printing and vacuum lithography technique"

Emilio García Rodríguez successfully presented his Master's Thesis entitled “Microfluidic sensor for the detection of ammonia in construction materials”.

On Friday, September 13, Emilio García Rodríguez, student of the Interuniversity Master's Degree in New Materials, taught by the University of Cantabria (UC) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV), defended his Master's Thesis entitled “Microfluidic sensor for the detection of ammonia in construction materials”. The defense took place at the Faculty of Sciences of Santander, where he obtained an excellent grade of 9.5 over 10.

This work, developed at the Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU, was directed by Prof. Dr. Luis María Lezama Diago, Ikerbasque Research Professor Dr. Lourdes Basabe Desmonts and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fernando Benito López. Under their supervision, Emilio made progress in the creation of an innovative sensor capable of detecting ammonia, a compound of interest in environmental monitoring within the construction industry.

Emilio's research has been recognized not only for its excellent qualification, but also for its scientific quality, which will allow him to present his TFM at the prestigious congress Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences - Micro-Total Analysis Systems (µTAS 2024), to be held in Montreal, Canada. This event is a world reference in the field of microfluidic systems and their application in chemical and biological sciences.

With this defense, Emilio concludes his research stage in the working group, having previously successfully defended his Final Degree Project (TFG) in Chemistry, also in the same line of research. His trajectory promises future important contributions to the field of materials science and sensor technology.

Nicolas Nazar (PhD), a researcher from the Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU was invited to be part of the EU COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) ACTION CA21124: LIFTing Farm Animal Lives - laying the foundations for positive animal welfare. He is a member of Working Group 2 (Leader,  Linda J. Keeling), which focuses on Identifying valid methodologies to assess positive animal welfare, and was invited due to his expertise in immunological and physiological welfare indicators.

In this way, the foundations are built for medium and long-term synergies between the areas of microfluidics and animal welfare.

https://liftanimalwelfare.eu/

https://liftanimalwelfare.eu/structure/working-groups/

https://liftanimalwelfare.eu/structure/leadership/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I03h21TTP5Y

Sepideh attended the Eurosensor Conference in Debrecen, Hungary, from 1-4 September 2024. She delivered an oral presentation on the Rizosheet Chip, developed by our former colleague, Dr. Daniel Patko. Rizosheet is a paper-based microfluidic chip designed to investigate plant root exudates. It is well established that plant roots release a wide range of chemicals, known as root exudates, to attract beneficial microbes. However, little is known about the exact location and timing of this exudation. By integrating an alginate-based colorimetric sensor, such as a glucose sensor, into the chip, we can spatially and temporally monitor the chemicals exuded by living roots. This approach also provides detailed insights into phenotypic differences between plant varieties. The device is cost-effective, easy to produce, and user-friendly, potentially revolutionizing future agricultural methodologies.

Well done Sepi!

It is time to say goodbye to Dr. Stefania Pellegrini after one year working with us.

It has been a present to have you in the group. We wish you all the best in the future.

May the microfluidics by with you!!

We are happy to welcome Prof. Swaminathan Rajaraman from University of Central Florida, USA to our group.

Prof. Rajaraman is in a sabbatical period at the Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU. What a great opportunity to work together on new ideas in micro and nano-scale technologies for life sciences.

See more details of a brief group introduction by Prof. Rajaraman in the CECS virtual seminar in Feb 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RjHKES6V9g

Congratulations Sergi and Sandra! your article "A physiological Perspective of the Relevance of Sweat Biomarkers and their Detection by Wearable Microfluidic Technology: a Review" was highlighted as a front cover in the Volume 1327.

What a great achivement!

The XI International Congress on Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (XI NyNA 2024) took place in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), from the 3rd to the 6th, September 2024.

The Microfluidics Cluster UPV/EHU was part of it, with a plenary talk: Microfluidics to Enhanced the Use of Nanomaterials as Chemical and Biological Sensors, by Prof. Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts; and an oral presentation: Design of a Solution-Based System Using RNAzyme Technology for Detection and Quantification of miRNA as Stress Response Indicator, by Prof. Fernando Benito-Lopez.

Both communications were very well received by the public and the congress has been an excellent opportunity to exchange and discuss ideas with high-level colleagues in the area of Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, fostering potential networking.

Laura Lartitegui Elorza, Mikel Díez Bravo and Xabi Arciniega Guinea defended their Degree Thesis last week. We can proudly say: Congratulations to the new chemists!

All the best for your new time out of UPV/EHU wherever it is!

Laura Lartitegui Elorza: Chip-on-a-cup: Fabrication of a microfluidic device adaptable to night-life glasses for the naked-eye detection of ketamine.

Mikel Díez Bravo: Microestructuras de ionogeles combinados con patrones celulares a través de litografía de impresión y vacío

Xabi Arciniega Guinea: Desarrollo de un sensor para la detección y cuantificación de la microsecuencia ARN-408.

Congratulations Jon! a new publication from your PhD. A wonderful review entitled Current Challenges in the Development of Platelet-Rich Plasma-Based Therapies by Jon Mercader-Ruiz, Maider Beitia, Diego Delgado, Pello Sánchez, Begoña Porras, Irene Gimeno, Sergio González, Fernando Benito-Lopez, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts and Mikel Sánchez was published in Biomed Res. Int. from Wiley publisher.

The review covers different novel PRP-obtaining methods that attempt to modify the molecular composition of the plasma.

Lourdes and Fernando recently embarked on a productive visit to Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, further solidifying the ongoing collaboration between their institution and the prestigious university. Hosted by the renowned research groups of Assitant Profs. Larisa Florea and Colm Delaney, the visit served as a key opportunity for both knowledge exchange and future planning.

During their time at Trinity, Lourdes and Fernando delivered two insightful seminars, showcasing their latest research and findings. These presentations not only highlighted the innovative work being conducted but also sparked dynamic discussions on current and potential future collaborations.

It was an absolute pleasure to visit and witness firsthand the impressive work being done. We look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership with Trinity College Dublin.

The visit marks another milestone in the ongoing collaboration, promising exciting developments in the near future.

Thanks Colm and Larisa!

Lourdes and Fernando visitied the laboratories of TE connectivity (Microliquid) in Arrasate-Mondragón.

It was a great opportunity to show the work we do in our laboraories. Lourdes gave a presentation and then we had the opportunity to visit all the laboratories.

Thanks for the great visit and we are looking forward to continue our collaborations!

Congratulations Sandra and Sergi, your review paper entitle: "A physiological perspective of the relevance of sweat biomarkers and their detection by wearable microfluidic technology: a Review" by Sergi Cinca-Morros, Sandra Garcia-Rey, Jesús Álvarez-Herms, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts and Fernando Benito-Lopez   present a critical and meaningful insight into the real applicability and potential use of wearable technology for improving health and sport performance. It also discusses the current limitations and future challenges of microfluidics, aiming to provide accurate information about the actual needs in this field. This work is expected to contribute to the future development of more suitable wearable microfluidic technology for health and sports science monitoring, using sweat as the biofluid for analysis.

What a lovely day we all had in Zumaia last 11th of July!!

It was a great opportunity to know more about the research we are all performing and then we have wonderful time all together visiting the Flysch landscape.